Seasonal recipe No 19 – Pasta with sweet leeks and mascarpone

Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Naked Chef cookbook. Naturally Jamie makes his own pasta – pappardelle (broad, wavy-edged pasta) – but shop-bought tagliatelle or linguine will work just as well for this simple dish.

Serves 4

Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes

Ingredients
1 small knob of butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 medium leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced at an angle
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
200g mascarpone
455g pasta
1 handful grated parmesan cheese

Method
Put the butter and olive oil into a semi-hot, thick-bottomed pan, add the leeks and gardlic, with a -pinch of salt, and gently sweat, without colouring, for about 5-10 minutes with a lid on, until the leeks are soft and sweet. Add the mascarpone. Let this gently melt into the leeks, creating a semi-thick sauce. Taste for seasoning.

Meanwhile cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Toss gently in the sauce (if it seems slightly thick, add a little of the cooking water from the pasta). The sauce should perfectly coat the pasta. Serve sprinkled generously with parmesan.